NOAA Warns of Strengthening El Niño Conditions

December 13, 2006

The United States is expected to feel the effects of a strengthening
El Niño from January to March of 2007, according to the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). El Niño conditions are
caused by a warming of the sea surface in the central and east-central
parts of the Pacific, near the equator. During such events, the jet
stream is stronger than normal across the southern United States. As a
result, increased storminess and wetter-than-average conditions occur
across the southern tier of the United States, from central and
southern California across the Southwest to Texas and across the Gulf
Coast to Florida and the Southeast. Meanwhile, drier-than-average
conditions are experienced in the northern Rockies and the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys. An El Niño also lessens the probability of
extremely cold days in the Northeast. NOAA's winter outlook, released
in mid-November, predicts warmer-than-average temperatures in parts of
Alaska, the north-central states, and the Northeast, which could
decrease the need for heating fuels this winter. This winter's El Niño
is expected to be weaker than the 1997 to 1998 event, which caused an
increase in global average temperatures. See the NOAA press releases
on the
El Niño
and the
winter outlook.